BITS Form 477 Unique Provider by Tract README

Each script covered by this README is written in R and in python. The functions are identical between the paired scripts, the difference is only their language such that users familiar with only one scripting language can use that associated file.

tracts08_10 has two functions. The first is to identify the changetype associated with each crosswalked tract geography change. Using the crosswalk_2000_2010_household.csv file, a changetype is assigned to each 2010 tract. The second is to use those changetypes to identify the number of unique broadband providers per 2010 tract based on the 2008/9/10 FCC data.

Follow the comments in this script to correctly point to the location of the FCC raw data in your environment and to ensure that the results are assigned to the correct columns.

tracts14_18 uses the FCC Form 477 data from 2014 onward, aggregating from census blocks to census tracts in order to match the resolution of Form 477 data pre-2014. As before, ensure that the paths to FCC data are correct and that results are assigned to the correct columns.

stitchResults simply takes the results from the two above scripts, along with the FCC Form 477 data from 2011-2013 and stitches them together into a single results file. In addition, several derived flag variables are calculated.
